Sherry Williams

Sherry D. Williams serves as Chief Legal Officer, Corporate Secretary, and Senior Vice President, Human Resources for Strategic Materials, Inc., in Houston, TX, the largest glass recycler in North America.  In this role, Sherry is part of Strategic’s Senior Leadership Team. She oversees and manages the corporate human resources team, and manages all aspects of the Company’s legal portfolio, including corporate contracting, corporate governance, corporate compliance, legal risk management, environmental compliance, corporate investigations, employment and labor, and litigation.

Sherry has over 25 years of legal and leadership experience with a broad background in corporate governance, global compliance and investigations, litigation, risk management, people and team development, leadership development, change management, and diversity and inclusion.  Sherry has assisted corporate leadership teams to navigate complex legal and regulatory matters, and to cultivate cultures of trust and integrity in support of business growth and mitigation of risk.  Sherry is highly regarded for her ability to manage complicated issues, work effectively under pressure, exercise excellent judgment, and navigate multifaceted quickly changing circumstances, including corporate crisis management. 

Sherry is a much sought-after public speaker, expert panelist, and is the recipient of many awards and honors including being named to the Lawyers of Color's Inaugural Nation’s Best list (2019).  In 2014 she was celebrated by Houston Woman Magazine as one of Houston’s 50 Most Influential Women and a Girl Scouts “Success to Significance” honoree, by the Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council. In 2013, Sherry was named to InsideCounsel Magazine’s “R-3 100” - a list of 100 women lawyers determined as ready to be a Fortune 500 General Counsel.  Also, in 2013, she was named to the “Power 100” list of the 100 Most Powerful Black Lawyers in America by On Being a Black Lawyer Magazine. In 2011, Sherry was featured in the “Women on the Rise” chapter in Courageous Counsel: Conversations with Women General Counsel in the Fortune 500 by Michelle Coleman Mayes & Kara Baysinger. In 2010 Sherry earned the Magna Stella Award for Diversity in Law from the Texas General Counsel Forum.

Sherry is a current member of the Executive Board and Parliamentarian for the Greater Tampa Chapter of Jack & Jill of America, Inc. She is a former Board Member for the Alley Theatre in Houston, TX, and the Board of Trustees for Wheeler Avenue Christian Academy (Houston, TX) where she was also Chairperson of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

Her previous board service also includes, Women of Tomorrow, Inc., a non-profit in Miami, FL that supports at risk young women and the University of Miami Law Alumni Association. 

Sherry was awarded her Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law in 1995 and a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in History, from the University of Oklahoma in 1992.  Sherry is licensed to practice law in Florida, New Jersey, and New York. In 2020 she received a certificate in personal and professional development coaching from the CaPP Institute. Sherry is also an adjunct faculty member at the Florida State University School of Law where she teaches Governance, Risk and Compliance in the Juris Masters Program.

Sherry lives between Tampa, Florida and Houston, Texas. Her greatest joy is being a mother to her daughter Sloane. Her greatest personal accomplishment is honoring her late mother by establishing the Hattie B. Williams Memorial Scholarship Fund at the University of Oklahoma, which provides an annual renewable $5000.00 dollar scholarship to eligible first generation African American college students.